Aviation Bulletin - June 2011

Which? Super-Complaint Regarding Airline Card Charges And OFT Investigation

In April 2011, the UK Office of Fair Trading wrote to a number of airlines which operate from the United Kingdom further to a "super-complaint" made by Which?, a UK independent consumer organisation, raising two principal concerns:

• The imposition of credit and debit card surcharges is not always sufficiently transparent and the revelation of charges late in the purchasing process restricts consumers from effectively and efficiently shopping around and comparing prices; and

• Where surcharges exceed a "reasonable" estimate of the costs likely to be incurred by the trader in processing the consumers' payments, consumers are likely to be harmed.